


Love in Four Acts

by wesleyfanfiction_archivist



Category: Angel: the Series
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-06-22
Updated: 2005-06-22
Packaged: 2018-07-12 08:53:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7095175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wesleyfanfiction_archivist/pseuds/wesleyfanfiction_archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Angel's memory spell hits Wesley harder than was expected, but when Angel notices he decides to do something about it.  Four ficlets, AtS Season 5.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Black Hole

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Versaphile, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [WesleyFanfiction.net](http://fanlore.org/wiki/WesleyFanFiction.Net). Deciding that it needed to have a more long-term home, I began importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in February 2016. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact the e-mail address on [WesleyFanfiction.net collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/wesleyfanfiction/profile).

It’s there, in the back of his head- the something, the thing he can’t quite find. The black hole of knowledge, and it is slowly eating him up, and he can’t figure out quite how to fix it. How to fix what is wrong in his head.

He tried every spell he knew, but nothing worked, and as the months wore on he finally gave up. Considered briefly asking Angel for help, but some nagging itch that lived in the same place as the black hole told him that it wouldn’t be the wisest course of action, and so when he exhausted all of the magical options he could feasibly use on his own, he just... gave up.

But the black hole was still there, and the pain it caused wouldn’t go away. So he distracted himself- first with alcohol, then with prescription sedatives, and finally with illegal drugs, both human and demonic, that could make him feel like the king of the world and like nothing could ever touch him or harm him. But they wore off, as they inevitably did, and then the crash was so much worse for the return of the pain from the black hole.

Finally he turned to the oldest method in the book- sex. Losing himself in a warm body, or occasionally a cold one, no matter how many scales or horns or tentacles it had, gave him a brief respite from the pain, and when it was over, there was no hangover like there was from the alcohol, and no crash like there was with the drugs. Just a sweet ache in his muscles and sharp sting of bruises and cuts and bites scattered across his body, marks that took time to fade, and while he could feel them he was able to push away the greater pain in his head.

The glamour that he bought was beyond expensive, but he could afford it, and any spell that not only visibly hid the marks, many of which were obviously made by less than human hands or what have you, but also hid them from a vampire’s sense of smell, was more than worth the price he paid.

He’d lost so much. He doesn’t know what he has lost, because it was all in the black hole in his mind, but somehow he knew that at some point he had lost everything that was dear to him. Now all he has is his life, his beautifully detailed mockery of an existence, and Angel. The life he doesn’t care about- it is nothing but surface shine- but Angel he could not bear to lose. Not now, not like this.

He clings to the thought in his head- Angel doesn’t know- but when he notices Angel, watching him very carefully out of opaque eyes, he realizes that Angel knows, and that soon his carefully constructed life will come crashing down around him, and he can’t even remember why.


	2. Black Hole

For a while, Angel thought everything was all right.

Then he noticed Wesley acting... odd. Nothing that he could quite put his finger on, and he couldn’t figure out what, exactly, about Wesley’s behavior was odd, but he knew that something was up.

So one day, he followed Wesley. Just to find out what was going on, because he didn’t want Wesley to get into something that could possibly be dangerous for all of them. And yeah, he knew that he was lying to himself, and he didn’t care.

To his shock, he saw Wesley go into a demon brothel and stay in there for hours. When he came out he was reeking of sex, and Angel, stunned, barely had the presence of mind to follow him home.

Wesley still lived in the same apartment, and Angel realized that he hadn’t been here since... since before Connor, actually. Probably much longer than that, to tell the truth. When had he and Wes lost the friendship that had once been so close?

He shadowed Wes up the stairs and dithered just long enough about following him in that Wesley shut the door before he made his mind. But when he tested the door, he found it unlocked, and when he turned the knob and tried to go in, he found that he had never been deinvited. Even after Angel had tried to kill him, over a year ago now, Wesley had never barred Angel from his home. Angel couldn’t decide whether that was an indication of Wesley’s trust, or of a death wish.

He quietly shut the door behind him, and followed Wesley’s scent into the bedroom. He stood silently in the doorway, watching as Wesley peeled clothing from his body and tossed them with casual accuracy towards the open laundry hamper. He was unable to repress a slight gasp, however, when he saw the marks on Wesley’s body, most of which were obviously not human in origin.

Wesley spun around at the noise, and his pale eyes widened when he saw Angel standing there. But then he deliberately relaxed his body, making no motion to cover himself, and tilted his head inquiringly.

“Angel, is something wrong?”

Angel shook his head disbelievingly. “Hell, yes, something’s wrong. Wesley, you went to a demon brothel tonight. Why? I didn’t think you went in for that sort of thing.”

“There’s many things you don’t know about me, Angel,” Wesley said, but his body looked a lot tenser now. Easy to see, since he was standing there nude.

Then the rest of what Angel said clicked, and Wesley’s eyes narrowed into a glare. “You were following me.”

“Yeah. Thought something was up, and found out that I couldn’t be more right. What the hell is going on?”

“You tell me.”

Wesley’s words fell between them like stones dropped into the still surface of a pond. The ripples spread between them, and Angel couldn’t control a flinch, suddenly filled with a horrible suspicion as to what, exactly, was wrong with Wesley.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean,” Wesley said, anger snapping in every word, “that there’s something wrong with me, Angel. Something missing. And I’m starting to think that it’s something to do with you.”

Pause.

Angel has a single moment in which to make his decision. He can play it off, tell Wesley that he’s been working to hard, or even suggest that he visit a doctor. Or, he can tell the truth.

He closes the distance between them in one fast move, and has Wesley in his arms before the man can even realize what’s happening. The kiss is hot, rough, fast, and wet, and it sends Angel spiraling to the edge of his control. But then he pulls back, noting the slightly dazed look of pleasure on Wesley’s face, and pulls the unresisting man over to the bed with one hand.

“Wes? You might want to sit down. There’s something I have to tell you...”


End file.
